... and now for something completely different

[Ericloewe]

or a spare Raspberry Pi

These days, spare Mercedes C Classes are easier to come by...

 

[Constantin]

These days, spare Mercedes C Classes are easier to come by...

True, there is a real arbitrage opportunity, i.e. being able to sell my Pi4s for 2x I paid for them. Nuts.

 

[Constantin]

Since when do you need a Cloud Key? You need the controller software, sure, but that can run in a jail under FreeBSD/TNCore, or an app under SCALE, or in a VM of your preference under either or your hypervisor of choice, or a spare Raspberry Pi if you happen to have one of those, or...

...or you could look at Ruckus (likely used) for both:

Brocade ICX Series (cheap & powerful 10gbE/40gbE switching)

NOTE #1: do not PM me with switch questions, they will be ignored - post them in this public thread, where hundreds of other members can also answer, and the answer will be public for future users NOTE #2 06-22-2023: Yes, this post is still up to date and nothing has changed: in fact judging by...

forums.servethehome.com

Ruckus Wireless as an Unifi alternative?

The recent Unifi product decisions have me starting to debate changing my wireless network here at home, and in searching around Ruckus seems to keep bubbling to the top of alternatives. Does anyone have any recent, first hand experience they can share? A few questions/comments below: From...

forums.servethehome.com

You are amazing, I had no idea that Ruckus gear was available for so little money. UniFi is my weapon of choice ATM for wireless since I have put so much of it to use over the years elsewhere, they offer WiFi 6E in the U6 series, etc. For home use, the industrial capabilities of Ruckus / Brocade are certainly beyond prosumer overkill but a great option for those among us who know how to use / deploy them. When buying new, the U6 Enterprise @ $300 a pop is a bit easier to swallow than the similar (though likely superior) R760 @ $2,000 and up.

Coming back to cloudkey, the price point for a Cloudkey+ is the same as RPi4. Granted, there is savings if I ran the thing in a jail, so I will look into that. What else are all the cores in a D-1537 going to stay busy with otherwise?

Speaking of Hilarity, I just installed Mac OSX Snow Leopard on a VM (Parallels), just to see if I could play Spaceward Ho! again.

 

[danb35]

a bit easier to swallow than the similar (though likely superior) R760 @ $2,000 and up.

That's why I said "likely used"--but yes, the Ruckus APs are considerably more expensive than anything from UBNT (even used). I bought a used R710, and its Unleashed firmware gives you most if not all of the capabilities of Unifi without needing a separate controller, but I don't know that I'm going to replace my existing APs. But two of their switches were a big improvement over the gear I'd been using.

 

[Constantin]

I hear you. I replaced my Airport Extreme base stations that had been faithfully working for the last 10+ years. But between WPA3, WiFi 6E, and age, I thought it was time to replace that infrastructure with something more modern that can also last 10 years. Wireless UBNT gear has treated me well, as long as it was only deployed indoors.

For example, one of the sites I deal with features two AirFiber ubnts connecting through two exterior walls, a evergreen tree, and about 300 yards yet still achieve 300 Mbit/s+ connections, more than adequate for a guest house. It has saved the owner thousand of dollars in ISP fees. But, install the very same radios outdoors and between geography and local conditions, the radios die after a year or two.

The U6's also get quite warm. Not hot, but warm enough where I will try to find a way to spacer them to allow the HX to function optimally. The airport extremes featured a virtually invisible (and inaudible) fan.

 

[Davvo]

I was going to ask @Constantin where did he store all his creations, and I am ending up asking what's the best managed switch for home use.
Love how this community can't live without tech. Love you all geeks!

 

[Constantin]

"Creations" are typically broken down once they start to fall apart. The better ones last from Halloween until Feb or so. Depends in part on how many layers I was able get down, whether I used wood glue (vs. Elmers), and what the underlying layers are made of. The ant head recently got damaged but I'll try to fix it if it warms up a bit.

Once it's time to retire a creature, the wood, metal, etc. are extracted to storage and reuse. The cardboard goes into recycling. Plastics get trashed. Fine detail (to the extent that such stuff exists) is stored for the future (jaws and eyes of drop bear). So I start pretty much from scratch every year. Just this year was different due to the bumblebee being ordered in April and surviving under a tarp until its gourd and now fire ant transitions.

As for SOHO switches, I am a fan of Mikrotik when it comes to new stuff. For example, they offer the CRS326-24G-2S+IN, which is a great compact little switch with 24 1GbE ports, 2 SFP+ cages, and a console. For $199, that's pretty tough to beat and a great addition to a home with limited space for switches, such as the LAN cabinet my structured wiring terminates in.

The CRS309-1G-8S+IN offers 8 SFP+ cages and 1GbE/POE RJ45 port if you're into SFP+. The RB4011iGS+RM gateway also has a SFP+ port and 8GbE ports. The newer RB5009 offers a (allegedly still flaky) 2.5GbE port, SFP+, and 7 GbE ports. Another version offers POE on all that also.

 

[Samuel Tai]

Unfortunately, I stay away from Mikrotik gear, since they're known targets for rootkits and botnets. See https://blog.mikrotik.com/security/meris-botnet.html. Older gear tends also not to have firmware updates available.

 

[Constantin]

Everything that is very configurable is a potential target for a botnet. Granted, routers / gateways / etc are particularly interesting for this application due to their I/O, connectivity, but just about anything that can invoke a shell can also be hacked. Some OEMs like centerclick (maker of my NTP200) hence never allow access to a shell, even over SSH.

But to exclude MikroTik over an incident in 2018 that has since been patched would also lead to many other OEMs getting banned. By virtue of owning Linksys, Cisco should also be off your list since they had multiple routers go vulnerable in 2021.

The issue in 2018 also affected linksys, netgear, qnap, asus, dlink, huawei, ubnt, zte, etc. Pretty soon you’d have zero vendors to buy from if the only qualification is that none of their gear was ever compromised.

Never mind the number of patches that went out before widespread botnetting, such as ruckus in 2019. The OEM was lucky, a white hat researcher allowed them to patch extant holes rather than suffering the public embarrassment of having their gear take part in a botnet. But the vulnerability was there.

For me, the more important question is whether the gear can be made reasonably secure. With updating, MikroTik, like a bunch of other vendors fits that bill. I’d much rather deal with an OEM that fixes issues actively than deal with all the gateways and APs out there that no longer get updates. Love it or hate it, routeros is constantly getting updated.

 

[Constantin]

Time for another update and apologies to all for more neighborhood blight.

Thought I’d illustrate a typical part process. Many of the shapes are rounded / weird to be more organic. To achieve that with cardboard is hard - single-wall stuff usually bends / yields pretty easily on one direction but is very stiff in another.

I work around this by using conduit below that I then clad like an exoskeleton with cardboard. The conduit is held to each other by inserting solid bent rods in the ends of the conduit, the joint is then held together using tape with monofilament fiberglass. This holds well, except in summer (when the tape glue liquifies).

so there is basics of the head, including a small fixture I built so we could work indoors. Our October (just like the rest of summer was pretty miserable, with rain virtually every weekend).

The next layer is cardboard that is taped to each other using the same fiberglass tape as the joints. You will need a lot of this tape. Then it’s time to prep for known features like eye stalks and similar nonsense. Once all the infrastructure is in place, the first Kraft paper layer can go on.

Once the Kraft paper has dried somewhat (I use a fan and a dehumidifier to goose things along) the finer features and the newsprint can follow. This one had fewer fine features and more painting as you will see.

Once all that is dry, it’s time to put on the primer, I use a simple white water base one since it’s easy to thin in case I use it in my HVLP sprayer. Big shout out to Fuji, they make an amazing sprayer.

Last but not least, the outer coats go on. This is Blickcrylic, which you can get at Dick Blick art supplies. Great stuff, though it’s only “beautiful” to work with its first year (I thin it with flood and water). Label your bottles with the year of purchase and try to only use new blickcrylics in your HVLP. If you use something older, buy a set of cheap strainers and use them religiously.

 

[Constantin]

More images to follow. I have to transfer, shrink, rotate, etc on my pc as my phone produces images too big for the forum, apparently.

 

[Redcoat]

my HVLP sprayer. Big shout out to Fuji, they make an amazing sprayer.

Looking forward to the images.

Which specific Fuji model have you enjoyed? We have a pretty critical kitchen cabinet refinishing project (one large old wall cabinet with glass doors and some matching window and door frames) to match up with some new cabinets in a century home refit, and I want to make the right gear choice...

Always enjoying this thread!!!

 

[Constantin]

Looking forward to the images.

Which specific Fuji model have you enjoyed?

Always enjoying this thread!!!

Apologies re delay on images. It’s been a bit hectic here. As for the Fuji sprayer, I opted for the Fuji Spray 2904-T70 Mini-Mite 4 Platinum.

 

[Redcoat]

Apologies re delay on images. It’s been a bit hectic here. As for the Fuji sprayer, I opted for the Fuji Spray 2904-T70 Mini-Mite 4 Platinum.

Thanks so much for the info!
You have nothing to apologize for - this thread is a delight!!

 

[Constantin]

Coconut crabs have a lot of legs and very long claws. We worked on them inside and out, as weather permitted.

Here are two of the smaller legs that we built for the funhouse version of the coconut crab- the idea was that since the funhouse at school is somewhat space-constrained, only 1/2 of the crab would be exhibited there and of it, only the front two legs on one side, one claw to boot.

The two larger rear legs followed later. They were loosly based on the fire ant legs, though shorter and with additional "swimmer" features. These two rear legs were too large to bring in and out of the basement, so I was limited to dry days to make them.

So I raced to make as much as I could outdoors (working up to 2AM), while reserving the smaller stuff for the basement. Here are the remaining 2 front legs on the left side of the crab being made two days before Halloween. Body in White, just before the first coat (saves on acrylic paint).

Here is a typical shot of the first layer on top of primer - thin, uneven, to be improved. Pictured are one claw, the back of the body and a middle leg.

 

[Constantin]

OK, so then there is the race on Halloween to assemble everything, finish paint, etc. Not trivial.

Daytime (on the next day)

Here from the front

And now at night.

Apologies for the wait.

... and a little later

Pretty amazing what a iPhone camera can resolve these days. Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[Ericloewe]

It's only missing the laser beams projecting out of the eyes...

 

[Constantin]

Good news and bad news. We’re almost into February and most legs are still attached to the body - except the rear two, which are the longest, have the most bending moment potential and both of which suffered joint failures. The rest still stands as our contribution to neighborhood blight.

 

[Etorix]

That's a quality build!